Milk toast has been knotted up with connotations so profoundly bland (I blame this guy) that we're starting to forget what it actually is -- which is simply toast soaked in buttered milk. In An Alphabet For Gourmets, M. F. K. Fisher calls it "a warm, mild, soothing thing, full of innocent strength" in a recipe titled, appropriately, Milk Toast (for the Ill, Weak, Old, Very Young, or Weary).

So milk toast's milquetoasty reputation could use a little flash. And where better to get it than Mission Street Food, from the team that gave us thrice-cooked bacon and kung pao pastrami? In the book, they include a chart of 13 twists, from Matcha to Baklava Toast Crunch, and you can vary it endlessly -- but this is comfort food, so you can also just keep it simple.

Myint explained to me over email that this is a dish born out of resourcefulness and novelty, when Mission Street Food was still a twice-weekly pop-up restaurant. They had to think fast for a new menu each night. "Oatmeal cookies and a chamomile milk shake would have been lovely but would have taken a few more hours than my week was shaping up to allow," Myint said. No wonder it's perfect for whipping up at home, whenever the need strikes.

Here's how to make it at home: Warm up some half-and-half, steep some chamomile (or Earl Grey or soothing spices) in it if you like. Then stir in just a little sweetened condensed milk.

Slice the best sandwich bread you can find -- pain de mie, or brioche -- really thick (about an inch).

Butter one side heavily (Myint says two tablespoons, and -- yep -- that's fantastic, but you can eyeball it.)

Toast it on both sides till just golden -- under the broiler is easiest. You don't want to put your toaster through this.

Dip the buttery side in sugar, then broil again.

Don't look away. You can use a torch for this part if you're that fancy. As Myint told me, "There's a little known section in the owner's manual when you buy a torch where you have to take an oath to brûlée whenever possible/plausible."

You can't eat this and not be happy. A bite into broiled, sugared toast -- loud, unflinching -- is matched only by the life-affirming crack of a spoon breaking through the glassy top of a creme brûlée. And when you set it in a warm milky puddle, good airy toast drinks up milk like a happy tres leches cake, while that toasty butter candy top hovers above it, keeping its crunch pristine.

When would you serve it, besides a quiet moment alone? A weeknight dinner party. A brunch party. An afternoon snack for your children, if you don't want your children to ever eat plain toast again. Christmas morning. Valentine's Day. A birthday breakfast.

Yes, even breakfast. A sticky bun isn't the healthiest way to start the day either, but we do it. And as far as fancy bakery-level treats go, this is the only one you can have 15 minutes from now.

Got a genius recipe to share -- from a classic cookbook, an online source, or anywhere, really? Please send it my way (and tell me what's so smart about it) at [email protected]. Thank you to Elana Carlson for this one!

I'm an ex-economist, ex-Californian who moved to New York to work in food media in 2007. Dodgy career choices aside, I can't help but apply the rational tendencies of my former life to things like: recipe tweaking, digging up obscure facts about pizza, and deciding how many pastries to put in my purse for "later."

Comments (15)

My mom used to make this for me and my sister when we were kids. Brings me to a really good time. She called it "Sugar Toast" I think she used whole milk with vanilla bean and a little brown sugar to sweeten it (because the sugar in the toast wasn't enough apparently). It was one of my favorite things as a kid. I love to see this recipe, the chamomile is brilliant. I'm going to buy some brioche and make some today. I just made some cashew cream yesterday, think I may use that instead of half and half. Thanks for bringing about a wonderful recipe!!

Love this, Kristen. I ate this toast at their pop-up. Yup, genius. Awesome to see Anthony Myint and Karen Leibowitz here. In the awesomeness of Mission Chinese, most of the media coverage today is only about Danny Bowien.

Wow! This looks like a great idea. We love French toast around here. I especially like the idea of using chamomile tea in the half and half. Chai would be good too. By the way, fat free half and half is just as good as full fat. We use it often. We also use vanilla refrigerated coffee creamer for French toast and Italian sodas. It comes in so many flavors that we have not even tried yet.

Looks heavenly. When I was a kid, my mother would halve/section a pink grapefruit, sprinkle its surface it with sugar and 'brulee' it under the broiler for us. This homey-ness of this reminds me of that.

This sounds so genius. Great writing! I love "A bite into broiled, sugared toast -- loud, unflinching -- is matched only by the life-affirming crack of a spoon breaking through the glassy top of a creme brûlée."